Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, Who’s the fairest of them all?
Mirror, Mirror, look to see, and know your own anatomy!
There are some girls and women who DO NOT KNOW where their vagina is until they have to. Are you surprised by this? Honestly, I am not at all.
Not using proper words when describing private anatomy parts (in boys and girls)
Tampons not always being discussed as options for menstrual hygiene,
Minimal health awareness education in younger ages,
Lack of sex ed information in more religious communities.
These are all contributors to this issue.
Take a small mirror, sit on a toilet and look.
You’ll be looking at the vulva, the external female genitalia. Open the labia majora (bigger, outside “lips” of the vulva) and see what’s going on. It may be confusing as it all just looks like a bunch of pink flappy/bunchy tissue so looking at a diagram first may be helpful for reference (pic in post, just swipe).
What you’ll see from top to bottom:
1) MONS PUBIS- the top where the hair is.
2) CLITORIS sitting under the clitoral hood (yes, literally looks like a hood)- one area that responds to sexual stimulation. Around the size of a small jellybean. It is OK to touch it, there should be no shame in this.
3) There is another set of “lips” that are thinner called the LABIA MINORA. Those surround the VESTIBULE, the space in front of the vaginal opening.
4) URETHRA- opening of the tube that connects to the bladder. Where urine comes out.
5) Vaginal opening (Introitus). You’ll see the HYMEN (fluffy, stretchie looking tissue- this may sound strange, but it kind of looks like a scrunchie?). Past the hymen is the actual VAGINA the internal canal leading to the cervix.
6) PERINEUM- the space of skin between the vaginal opening and anus
7) ANUS- where you poop from.
Knowing all of this sooner rather than later can help avoid tampon insertion difficulties, bedika cloth insertion issues, and uncomfortable sexual experiences that can all come from not knowing where the vagina is.
It’s 10pm. Do you know where your vagina is?